Manufacture of footwear



May 9, 1939. H. B. GORMAN 2,157,982

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF AR Filed Aug. -51, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 V II W6 lVENT M ATFORNEYS May 9, 1939.

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 31, 1935 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedMay 9, 1939 PATENT OFFICE I mum-norms or FOOTWEAR Henry B. Gorman,Lynchburg, Va... asslgnor to Compo Shoe Machinery Corporation, New York,N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 31, '193. Serial No.38,684

Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes. A general object ofthe invention is to provide a shoe, and a method of making the same,having improvedcharacteristics particu- 5 larly as to flexibility at theforepart.

More particularly, objects of the invention are to provide a shoe and amethod of making the same involving a flexible single sole constructionat the central forepart portion thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relationof one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and thearticle possessing the features, properties, and

the relation of elements, which are exemplified in the followingdetailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will beindicated in the claims.

objects of the invention reference should be had to the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rounded blank of sole leather used infollowing the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the blank shown in Fig. 1 witha shank piece removed therefrom;

Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof a knife usedin preparing the outsole;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a composite insole embodying features ofthis invention;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a lasted shoe showing one stage in thelasting thereof;

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view corresponding to line1-1-of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing further steps in the lastingoperation;

Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical sectional view correspondingsubstantially to line 9-9 of Fig. 8

after completion of the operations illustrated in that figure;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a further step in themanufacture of the shoe;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of the forepart of the outsoleblank shown in Fig.

2 with further operations indicated thereon;

Fig. 12 is a transversevertical sectional view across the forepart oftheshoe as treated in Fig.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and 10, and showing theapplication of a sole member thereto; and

- Fig. 13 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken across theforepart of a completed shoe.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a roundedblank of sole leather -l0 having sufficient thickness to allow for theremoval of a shank piece ll therefrom in order to produce the compositeinner sole about to be described. If desired, the shank piece ll may besplit from the sole blank l0 along the dotted line designated I2 in asingle splitting operation which stops at the ball line I l' asillustrated, by use of a known or convenient leather splitting machine.A suitable template, not shown, may conveniently be employed to compelemergence of the splitting out along the ball line, as is wellunderstood in the art. The above described splitting operations leave anoutsole blank l0 having heel and shank portions which are relativelythinner than the fore= part portion. This thickened forepart portion isnext split and trimmed by means of a knife I3 having a horizontalcutting edge I4 and a vertical cutting edge l5 as shown in Fig. 3. Thisknife may be mounted on any suitable randing or channeling machine andthe outsole l0 fed therepast so as to enable the blade I4 to make ahorizontal cut 25 inwardly from the edge of the thickened portion of theoutsole blank at the same level as the upper surface of the thinnedshank and heel portions thereof, thus forming an integral lip 26 whichmay be bent upwardly away "from the body of the outsole as shown in Fig.11. At the same time the vertical cutting blade l5 trims the outer edge21 of such lip about /8 'of an inch inwardly from the outer marginaledge of the lower portion of the outsole.

As shown in Fig. 4, the shank piece II, which is preferably the sameshank piece which has been "split from blank I 0, has cemented or pastedto its forward edge a forepart portion l6 which is preferably made ofcardboard having a thickness about equivalent to the combinedthicknesses of the plied upper materials in the lasting allowance at theforepart of a shoe. The forepart portion I6 is backed, for strengtheningpurposes, by a suitable strong fabric backing I I.

The insole thus formed is located on a last, and an assembled upper isalso located on the last in position to be drawn over and lasted to thecomposite insole, as is indicated in Fig. 6. The forepart lastingallowance portion 20 of such upper is preferably separated from the heeland shank lasting allowance portions 2| by splits such as 22. Thisenables the lasting allowance 2| to be overlasted in any suitable orconventional manner, preferably by cement lasting in the mannerdescribed in Patent No. 1,988,438 to William H. Bresnahan. If desired,however, stitch or other lasting at this portion of the shoe iscontemplated.

The foregoing lasting allowance at 20 is pulled over and lasted to thecomposite forepart portion of the insole, being cemented to the outerface of the fabric reinforcing ply [1.

After the shoe is thus lasted all around, the central forepart portionof the composite insole is cut out by means of a knife or other suitabletool substantially along the margin defined by the inner edges of theinturned lasting allowance. Arry excess lasting allowance is trimmedaway during this cutting operation. This incision terminates rearwardlyat the ball portion of the shoe Just forwardly of the shank piece I l,and the entire severed central forepart portion of the insole may belifted and removed as indicated at 23 in Fig. 8. This leaves a lastedupper having a shank piece II at the heel and shank portions thereof anda forepart insole rand comprising the marginal portions l6 and ll" ofthe cardboard ply l6 and the fabric ply II, respectively, as shown inFig. 9.

One end of the cardboard forepart rand portion I6 is next loosened, asshown in Fig. 10, and this entire cardboard rand or loop is pulled outfrom between the last and the fabric rand portion I I leaving a space 24(Fig. 12) between these parts. This space is designed to accommodate theintegral attaching lip provided on a mating outsole.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 11, the trimmed lip 26 is lifted up awayfrom the body portion of .the sole and the opposed surfaces 28 and 29 ofthe split are coated with cement, preferably pyroxylin cement, which isusually permitted to dry and is subsequently activated through theapplication of a solvent at the time the outsole is to be attached tothe upper. When the cement is in its activated state, the lip 26 issufliciently limp and pliable to be manipulated into the space oropening 24 in the manner indicated in Fig. 12. The outsole III also ispreferably shanked out or scarfed at its shank portion in theconventional manner, and it is provided'with an activated coating ofcement at the shank portion, and also at the heel if cement attachmentat the heel is desired. The outsole and the lasted upper to which it isfitted are then placed in a conventiona l sole press and held togetherunder sole aflixing pressures, such pressure forcing the lip 26 snuglyinto the position indicated in Fig. 13 and serving to affix such lip tothe insole rand ll while the outsole proper is cemented to the upper 20at its cemented portion 28.

By virtue of this construction there is provided a shoe having aflexible single sole at its forepart which is subject to economicalmanufacture and easy assembly. 1

It will be seen that there has been provided a shoe and a method ofmaking the same, together with a novel and useful last adapted tofacilitate the construction of such shoe, all of which are well suitedto fulfill their intended purposes.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intendedthat all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be enemaswhich comprise lasting an upper to an insolehaving a plied forepart,removing one of said plies after lasting, providing an outsole with anintegral attaching lip around its forepart, locating said lip in thespace formed by removal of said ply, and fastening said outsole to thelasted upper.

2. In a method of making a shoe, the steps which comprise lasting anupper to an insole, cutting away the central forepart portion of saidinsole after lasting, providing an outsole with an integral attachinglip around its forepart, attaching said outsole to the lasting allowanceof said 'upper and attachingsaid lip to the retained marginal portion ofsaid insole.

3. In a method of making a shoe, the steps which comprise lasting anupper to an insole having a plied forepart, cutting away the centralforepart portion of said insole, removing the remaining marginal portionof one of said insole plies, providing an outsole with an integralattaching lip around its forepart, locating said lip Y in the spaceformed by removal of said marginal ply portion, and fastening saidoutsole to the lasted upper.

4. he method of making a shoe, the steps comprising attaching a fabricforepart piece and a backing piece to a shank piece to form an insole,locating said insole on a last with said backing piece thereagainst,lasting an upper to said insole, cutting away the central forepartportion of said insole, removing the remaining marginal portion of saidbacking piece, providing an outsole with an attaching lip, locating saidlip in the space formed by removal of the marginal portion of thebacking piece, and attaching the outsole to the lasted upper.

5. In a method of making a shoe, the steps comprising attaching a fabricforepart piece and a relatively stiff backing piece to a shank piece toform an insole, locating said insole on a last with said backing piecethereagainst, lasting an upper to said insole, removing the centralforepart portion of said insole, removing the remaining marginal portionof said backing piece, providing an outsole with an attaching lip,cementing said lip to the inner face of the marginal portion of saidfabric forepart piece, and cementing the marginal portion of the outsoleto the outer face of the lasting allowance of said lasted upper.

6. In a method of making a shoe, the steps comprising forming theforepart of an insole from a fabric piece and a backing piece, locatingsaid insole on a last with saidbacking piece thereagainst, cementlasting an upper to said insole, removing the central forepart portionof said insole and the marginal portion of said backing piece, providingan outsole with an integral attaching lip, cementing said lip to theinner face of the marginal portion of said fabric forepart, andcementing the marginal portion of the outsole to the outer face of thelasting allowance of said lasted upper.

7. In a method of making a shoe, the steps said insole, attaching saidlip to the retainedcomprising splitting a shank piece from a roundedsole blank, thus leaving an outsole having a relatively thick forepartportion, attaching a forepart piece and a forepart backing piece to saidshank piece to form an insole, lasting an upper to said insole, removingthe central forepart portion of said insole, removing the marginalportion of said backing piece, splitting the marginal portion of saidthicker outsole portion to provide an integral attaching lip, cementingthe margin of the forepart of said outsole to the outer face of thelasting allowance of said lasted upper, and cementing said lip to theinner face of the marginal portion of said forepart piece.

8. In a method of making a shoe, the steps comprising splitting a shankpiece from a rounded sole blank thus leaving an outsole portion having arelatively thick forepart, splitting the 1 margin of said forepartinwardly on a level with the upper surface of the shank portion of saidoutsole to form an integral lip, trimming the marginal edge or said lip,lasting an upper to an insole, removing the central iorepart portion ofmarginal forepart portion of said insole, and attaching the marginaliorepart portion of said outsole to the lasting allowance of said lastedupper.

9. A shoe having an insole comprising a shank piece and a centrallyperforate'fabric forepart piece, an upper lasted to said insole, anoutsole having an integral lip around its forepart, and

cement attaching said 11p to said fabric forepart piece and attachingthe outsole proper to the lasting allowance of said laster upper.

10.-A shoe havingan insole provided with a centrally perforate forepart,an upper lasted to said insole, an outsole having its forepart thickerthan its shank and heel portions and havingits marginal i'orepartportion split inwardly from outsole to said upper.

, HENRY B. GORMAN'.

